“I will be at EuroBasket this summer,” Parker said during an interview with a weekly sports television show in France. “I’m eager to get started. We have a really good team.”

Parker told the television show that he was piqued to play for the French team because Chicago center Joakim Noah also is planning to play.

“You need great inside play to win in Europe so Joakim Noah can be a very important piece in our puzzle and make a big difference,” Parker said. “I hope he’ll be able to help us.”

Winning the European title would be an additional career honor for Parker, who has won three NBA titles with the Spurs and claimed the 2007 Finals MVP in the Spurs’ four-game sweep over Cleveland.

“In the NBA, I won everything and I did so early on,” Parker said. “With France, winning will be special because I’ve waited for it for so long.”

But there is always the chance for injury or continued fatigued playing international basketball in the summer. Parker credit his strong early start this season to the fact that he did not play in international action last summer.

And I wonder what Gregg Popovich’s ideas would be about Parker playing more basketball at the end of the NBA season.